


Eye of the Tiger

by GrellesTARDIS



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Awkward Boners, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Crack, F/M, For a Friend, I imagine Peggy's bi too, M/M, Multi, Snark, because everyone needs a push-up competition, relationships not established until the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-21 16:51:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3699830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrellesTARDIS/pseuds/GrellesTARDIS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Howling Commandos are faced with a competition, they tend to never back down. Humility be damned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eye of the Tiger

**Author's Note:**

> Written for sonickitty on Tumblr because she said a fic needed to be written for the below scenario. And everyone needs bi!Steve with an awkward boner.
> 
> http://angels-that-weep.tumblr.com/post/115525938749/sonickitty-tora42-agent-of-fandom-fleete-okay

It had started innocently enough, or as innocent as anything concerning the Howling Commandos could be. They had just completed taking another of Hydra’s facilities off the map and drug themselves into camp so they could get some food and relax for an hour or two before their plane picked them up. The meal was prepared fairly quickly as the men traded stories, from previous battles to back at home before the war.  
Peggy, for once, hadn’t noticed they’d returned until they were already seated at the portable table with lunch. Steve subtly watched her as usual from his spot next to Bucky as she ducked out of her tent. She sent him a reassuring smile as soon as she straightened, mouthing a quick ‘got held up with reports’ as she did so.  
As she made her way to the food, Dum Dum paused whatever story he’d been telling about some dame a few years back to lean across the small table and clap a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “See, Peggy?” He laughed as he turned to face her. “Told ya we’d bring him back in one piece.”  
She didn’t even look over her shoulder when she replied, fondness in her voice as she gathered everything she could onto her plate. “I had the utmost faith in you, Dugan. Sergeant Barnes on the other hand…”  
Bucky clapped a hand over his heart. “Aww, Peggy, you wound me. I thought we had something special.”  
Peggy laughed, tossing her head back as she finished fixing her meal and made her way to join them. *God, she’s beautiful when she laughs like that,* thought Steve. He immediately elbowed Bucky in the ribs so he would scoot down the way when he finally noticed she was coming towards them.  
The brunette sighed at his friend, scooting himself about a foot to his right. “You know, you’re going to have to tell her one of these days.”  
The blond chose not to answer as Peggy sat down next to him, Dugan simultaneously starting his story again.  
“So anyway, I’m sweet-talkin’ her, right? Tellin’ her about how I’m in the military and all that when she pops up out of the blue and asks me how many push-ups I can do. Well,” Dugan seems very pleased with himself. “I’m of course very happy to tell her that I can do seventy without breaking a sweat-” His story is interrupted yet again by a very quick, very feminine snort.  
Everyone turned to stare at Peggy. She immediately ducked her head with an apology, hiding a smile behind her hand so only Steve and Bucky could see it. Bucky spoke up before Steve had a chance to, leaning around the blond as he quirked an eyebrow.  
“Everything alright Peggy?”  
Peggy waved him off, smile still plastered on her face. “Yes, yes, it’s nothing important. So sorry Dugan, please do continue.”  
“Oh come on, Peggy,” Jim spoke up from the far end of the table. “It can’t be that bad.”  
She gave an almost imperceptible glance at Steve for his opinion. In all the time that she had spent in the military, the Commandos were practically the only men not to question her skills just because of her gender. All the men here respected her for what she could do and never once doubted her out of context, but she was still new to it. Peggy wasn’t used to being able to voice her opinions and even giving occasional orders without being ignored if she was lucky or humiliated if she wasn’t.  
With Steve’s nod, Peggy squared her shoulders and stared Dum Dum in the eye. “Is that it? Only seventy?”  
It seemed as though the whole camp went deathly quiet at the challenge.The silence was broken a moment later at everyone’s joyful laughter.  
Dugan clapped his hands together before replying, a slightly manic grin lighting up his face. “That’s is what I’m talkin’ about. How do you boys feel about a little friendly wager before we head back into the shitstorm?”  
****************

Steve stood in front of the group, the Commandos plus Peggy gathered before him in a semi-circle formation, chatting amongst themselves while they waited for the competition to start. It was strange seeing Peggy in just a loose blouse tucked into the waist of form-fitting pants. Steve knew it was so she was on a level playing-field with the men wearing wife-beaters along with the bottoms of their uniforms, but it still sent his blood rushing.  
He chose not to comment on it. Instead, Rogers was passing a silver whistle between his hands, shaking his head at the lone female.  
“I still can’t believe you decided to do this, let alone one-armed.”  
Peggy shrugged a shoulder before her attention was diverted into a conversation with Jacques. It had only been slightly surprising for them to learn that their own Agent Carter was fluent in French, but from then on she was Jacques's unofficial translator.  
Bucky moved to stand with his friend as soon as her attention was diverted from Steve. “It doesn’t surprise me. Reminds me just how alike she is to this little punk from Brooklyn who never backed down from a fight. Even against guys twice his size.”  
His eyes slid over to look at Steve in a side-glance on that last part, and it took all of the super-soldier’s willpower not to blush at the look combined with being within inches of a sleeveless Bucky Barnes.  
He had always found Bucky to be attractive when they were growing up. As kids, the brunette was almost always scruffed up from fights and looking more attractive than he had any right to. Adult Bucky in his uniform the night before shipping out with the 107th had featured a fair few times in Rogers’ dreams during his weeks of being a show monkey. But the Commandos uniform combined with a generally disheveled look from their missions was Steve’s near-nightly undoing.  
More and more Peggy was also a feature in such incidents, and those times were both the most torturous and the most… invigorating. Steve often felt embarrassed for coming up with such things during his sleep upon waking, but it certainly helped with the stress. He just had to be careful about controlling when he thought about his dreams during waking hours.  
Howard had almost found him sporting tighter-than-normal pants after he saw a soldier sneaking a swipe of a dancer’s bright red lipstick. At least that could be blamed on a gorgeous woman walking by and not what had happened with Dream Bucky the night before.  
Clearing his throat, Steve addressed the assembled group, conversation stopping almost immediately so they didn’t miss anything. “Alright, this is how it’s going to go. Everyone’s going to drop to the ground when I say and follow along with my counting so it’s accurate and fair. Peggy has chosen to it one-armed, and while everyone is welcome to try it right along woth her it’s not necessary. Only go as long as you can doing one right after another without a break, and the last two will be the only counted. The winner gets bragging rights for life. The loser has to do whatever jobs the winner doesn’t want to do for a week. Everyone agreed?”  
The assembled group nodded.  
“Alright then, everyone in position.”  
Just when the resounding thud of seven people falling to their hands and knees dissipated, Gabe deciding to take on Peggy’s challenge and go one-armed too, Steve blew the whistle.  
“One.”  
Everyone started strong, confidence apparent in their tanned faces.  
“Thirty-five.”  
Still keeping perfect time, only a few of them were starting to let show the fatigue.  
“Fifty-seven.”  
Jacques’s hand slips, sending him crashing to the ground unceremoniously. He curses under his breath in French for a moment or two while he brushes himself off, coming around to watch the proceedings from a rock just behind Steve.  
“Sixty-three.”  
James lets himself stay down on the next pass, deciding to give away the chance of victory with dignity.  
“Sixty-eight.”  
Gabe’s arm can’t support his whole weight anymore and he crashes just the same as Jacques.  
“Seventy-two.”  
Dum Dum is officially out. He wipes his brow with his sleeve, placing his trademark bowler back on his head and joining the other disqualified men. Steve can just barely make out the conversation they’re having, and he can’t help the smile that spreads across his face.  
“Seventy-five.”  
Jim lasts just a bit longer than Dugan. He pushes himself onto his haunches with a laugh. “Ha! I lasted longer than you did Dugan! Seventy push-ups my ass.”  
Steve laughs with him for split-second before realising just who’s left.  
Peggy and Bucky.  
It’s all Steve can do to keep counting. Seeing the two people he cares for most in the world going head to head is bad enough, but seeing them going head to head, seeing the muscles play beneath their skin, and having them panting and sweaty was going straight to the captain’s reptile brain.  
He keeps counting. He has to; it’s the only thing keeping him from running back to his tent and taking care of his now too-tight pants, and not giving a damn how loud he was.  
“Eighty-two.”  
The glare Bucky sends at his shaking arms makes Steve stealthily adjust himself in his pants.  
“Eighty-seven.”  
Bucky finally concedes, propping himself up on locked arms, knees resting on the ground. The blond is so absorbed in the way Barnes’s head is hanging between his shoulders that it takes him a minute to notice that Peggy is still going.  
The rest of the men come to stand next to Rogers, their mouths hanging open as they join him in his counting, every number mumbled just loud enough to be heard.  
“Ninety.”  
Her hand claws itself into the ground, anchoring her as she starts shaking from the exertion.  
“One hundred.”  
Her other arm whips from behind her back so she can grip at her hair, stopping herself from putting it down in added support. Steve's blood is pounding in his ears at the action.  
“One-o-seven.”  
“Fuck!”  
Peggy yells the curse as she finally slams her hand into the ground. Steve is staring, he knows, but he can’t help it.  
It only takes her a minute to get back on her feet, but instead of coming to join the group Agent Carter surprises them all by going to stand in front of Sergeant Barnes. He’s standing on his knees, arms hanging limp at his sides, head tipped back so he can look her in the eye. The image burns itself into Steve’s retinas, and he knows it’s going to be used so often he may never forget it.  
Bucky smiles at her from his position. “Looks like you won. Your wish is my command.”  
She returns the smile and sticks out a hand to help him stand. Bucky takes it gratefully and she waits until he’s steady on his feet before replying. “Oh, I intend to make use of this throughout the week.”  
Dum Dum steps forward before she can move to leave. “Maybe you can make use of this as well.”  
She stares in shock at the fairly sizable stack of money he presents her with.  
“But- but I thought the winner just won bragging rights.”  
“True,” Steve interjects. “But we all figured you’d beat them into the mud anyway, so they decided you needed an extra something. We’re even going to give you a full day off when we get back to camp so you can spend some time to yourself. You deserve it for not only putting up with us but also completely annihilating them. It takes someone special to beat Buck at push-ups.”  
“I’d say.” Bucky laughs. He ducks around Peggy and tosses a few more bills onto the pile, Steve already following his lead.  
“Never expected anyone to beat me besides Steve.”  
The comment would have been innocent in other circumstances, especially with the way the two constantly teased each other, if it wasn’t for the look Bucky shot Steve. His so-dark-brown-they’re-nearly-black eyes were completely blown, only the barest hint of color left around the edges.  
He turned away before Steve could move an inch, much to the blond’s disappointment. The party decided to head back to their tents to gather any remaining items before making the trek to meet the plane.  
Some time later Rogers had just finished pulling everything together and was contemplating taking a walk, shoving his hands in his pockets as he thought. It was then that he felt a piece of paper brush against his right hand. He unfolded it and nearly fell over from shock as he recognised the looping handwriting. In fact he sat down hard on his bed as he stared at the note, rereading it over and over to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination.

 

Steve,  
When possible, you and Sergeant Barnes should come by my tent after being out walking far longer than intended. Say, well after everyone has fallen asleep. I feel as though we could make excellent use of my location far away from the other tents. I can guess it would not only be an enjoyable experience but we could possibly work out an arrangement for repeat performances.  
When I comment on the weather later tonight, say either;  
“A storm could be moving in” if you’re interested in my offer, or  
“It can’t rain all the time” if you’d rather not.  
I will not be offended with your decision, no matter which you chose to make. I’m looking forward to your response.  
Yours,  
Peggy.

 

Several hours later, Steve had never been more grateful to small talk about the weather. Especially when he finally had the chance to reenact the scene from that afternoon, but with a much different, much better outcome.

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone catch my not-so-subtle reference to The Crow? Hope you guys liked it, this was written in like 3 days because it needed to be done, but I also stayed up for hours writing and editing, so let me know if there are any mistakes or if something doesn't make sense. Love all of you!!!!!
> 
> Also, hey, literally 24 Kudos in the first 24 hours! Thanks so much everyone!!!!


End file.
